Lake Okeechobee

Athletes have long known about the benefits of running in sand. But running in thick, black muck? While chasing rabbits as they dart and weave?

That's a south-central Florida thing — specifically in the towns of Belle Glade and Pahokee, where for years football players have trained by scurrying after the animals through sugarcane fields. It's an experience that binds together the many Division I stars who grew up near Lake Okeechobee, in Everglades country — an area many of them simply call "The Muck."

Before joining Maryland, freshman cornerback-returner Will Likely III, from Glades Central High School, was part of that unusual fraternity that has...

Related "Lake Okeechobee" Articles

Athletes have long known about the benefits of running in sand. But running in thick, black muck? While chasing rabbits as they dart and weave?
That's a south-central Florida thing — specifically in the towns of Belle Glade and Pahokee, where for years...

Will Likely bypassed second-semester high school senioritis in favor of a head start on his 2013 college classmates by enrolling at Maryland last month. The transition from Belle Glade, Fla., to College Park has been smooth so far for the four-star...

Growing up in bleak surroundings in South Florida, Ravens defensive end Pernell McPhee learned long ago that life can be cruelly snatched away, bright light suddenly replaced by darkness.
Although the newly minted Super Bowl-winning defensive lineman...

Editor's note: This is the third in a series of profiles on Ravens draft picks whose first months as professionals have been disrupted by the NFL lockout. Coming next Sunday, Tyrod Taylor.
When Pernell McPhee arrived on campus at Itawamba Community...

The announcer, mounted on a horse named Gus, said "go," and dozens of young boys and girls ran across the rodeo arena, in pursuit of a calf and the red ribbon on his tail. The first child to get a piece of the ribbon would win a prize. A...